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Daily ETF Roundup: IYR Falls, XLV Rises

by Michael Johnston on November 24, 2009 | ETFs Mentioned: IYR • XLV

Inching towards the Thanksgiving holiday, a more bullish outlook from Fed officials and another rise in home prices was more than offset by news that U.S. GDP growth had been revised lower. Most major benchmarks finished the day down slightly, led by a retreat in many Japanese indexes to four-month lows.

The ETFdb 60 Index, a benchmark measuring the performance of the universe of investable assets available through ETFs, declined 2.15 points, or 0.2% to close at 1,019.31. The ETFdb 60 Index has now lost ground in four of its last five sessions as the market rally has seemingly hit a wall. Trading was again light on Tuesday, a trend likely to continue throughout the week.

None of the benchmark’s components had a particularly exciting day, with each of the 25 gainers adding less than 1%. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) gained 0.8% for the day following good news from the Medtronic, which announced fiscal second quarter earnings that far exceeded analyst expectations. Increased optimism that any health care overhaul will leave room for publicly-traded insurers and drug companies to operate at a profit also helped to alleviate fears among investors.

XLV

On the losing side Tuesday was the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index Fund (IYR), which dropped 1.5% on continued fears about a commercial real estate implosion in coming months. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Allstate, the largest publicly-traded U.S. home and auto insurer, is reducing its commercial real estate exposure, shifting holdings towards corporate debt.

IYR